Public speaking: the one aspect of life that we are doomed to never get away from. Whether it’s raising your hand in class, or standing in front of a presentation, it is the one academic and professional prospect that is guaranteed to crank up stress levels like no other. Gigantic, mountainous, essay? Not a problem. Read more
Henry VIII’s warship, the Mary Rose, sunk in the Solent in 1545 and was left to sleep on the seabed for hundreds of years. In 1982 she was raised and her home since has been Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard. On Wednesday 14th February this was the destination of two minibuses and their cargo of conservation students Read more
Studying the Effect of Varying Silica Gel Amounts on the Relative Humidity Within a Container. Our dissertation is looking at the relative humidity (RH) changes within storage containers that have different amounts of silica gel within them so that we can see if the amount of silica gel affects the RH. -Will Smith, Mary Lawrence, Read more
Have you ever wandered around a historic landmark and marveled at the landscaping? Or wondered how often those statues in the museum have to be dusted and who does it? Have you ever walked into a small, local museum and noted how few ‘staff’ are present, or asked why it’s only open a few days Read more
Following the completion of the physical treatment of the Black Friary stained glass, all thoughts turned to the study and analysis of selected pieces from the collection. I selected a range of pieces to begin to characterize the elemental composition of the glass as well as the designs on the surface. With the help of Read more
As I sit down to write this blog post, many people will be gathering gifts, wrapping paper, and Sellotape in preparation for the festive period. But as you wrap, or even unwrap your gifts, spare a thought for the self-adhesive clear tape often used to fasten those pretty parcels. Sellotape? Whether we call it Sellotape, Read more
This post was originally written for the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute. You can find the original post on their blog here. They have kindly given us permission to share the post on our blog as well. The history behind a single object can often tell many stories. In 2004 Read more
This post was originally written for the Cardiff University Special Collections and Archives blog. They have kindly allowed us to share their post here on our blog as well. Leaves and flowers are generally removed from archives or books collection, as this organic material encourages pests, stains paper and can be poisonous, but when Read more
Before I graduated from high school my dad told me I should study what I’m passionate about, because it meant I would succeed. I took his advice and double majored in Honours History and Religion, with a minor in Art History, but halfway through my undergraduate degree at Carleton University, I still had no idea Read more
Although museums, galleries and archaeological sites provide the bulk of our work at Cardiff University it is important to remember, as a conservator in training, that cultural objects requiring treatment come from many sources. The treatment of these objects may present interesting challenges especially if they are still in active use. The case Read more